The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted sensorless motor apparatus with a motor termination connector for motor phases U, V, and W; and more particularly relates to a motor having a stator circuit board integral to the motor, a controller circuit board separate from the stator circuit board, and mating connectors for connecting circuits between the circuit boards for controlling the motor phases U, V, and W. The present innovation is well adapted for use in an automatic transmission fluid pump/motor apparatus, but is not believed to be limited to only that use.
Sensorless automatic transmission fluid (ATF) motors can be used to drive pumps for pumping automatic transmission fluid on a vehicle. Such motors are useful for several reasons, including their compact design, reliability, control, and cost effectiveness. Sensorless ATF motors typically have a connector-based termination on the circuit boards for phases U, V, and W, so that a controller circuit board can control circuits defined in part by the stator circuit board for operating the motor's rotor. It is important that the assembly be compact, but also easily connected (since the assembly may be a blind assembly), reliably connected (including good and consistent electrical contact and that is also mechanically resistant to pull-apart), and assembled with a minimum of components and lower cost component (for competitive reasons).
One example of prior art is shown in FIGS. 18-21, which illustrates an ATF motor 100 connected to a pump positioned inside a transmission fluid pan for pumping pooled automotive transmission fluid as needed to vehicle components. The motor 100 includes a stator circuit board 101 with a first multi-point (female) connector 102 (sometimes called “terminal header”) soldered to the board 101, and a controller circuit board 103 having a mating second multi-point (male) connector 104 (sometimes called a “socket header”) soldered to the board 103, with the mating connectors 102 and 104 having mating pin and sockets for connecting different circuits between the circuit boards 101 and 103 for controlling phases U, V, and W of the motor 100 to rotate the motor's rotor. The connector 102 is soldered into the electronics in the stator circuit board 101, and the connector 104 is soldered to the electronics of the controller circuit board 103, which adds significant expense and is a quality concern. The male connector 104 includes multiple miniaturized parallel pins 105 adapted to fit snugly into mating sockets for electrical connection. The pins are designed to be as small as possible to meet space/size, weight, and functional requirements, since the space within the transmission fluid pan is small, but concurrently must be sufficiently large for good surface area for providing electrical connection. The connectors 102 and 104 both include metal conductors held by non-conductive material (such as plastic), with the non-conductive material being designed to assist with accurate alignment of the pins and sockets during assembly and interconnection, but also providing good retention strength after assembly. A quality problem occurs when one or more of the pins are deformed or damaged during assembly, resulting in poor (or no) electrical connection. This problem is compounded by the blind assembly, and by the small size and low bending strength of the pins. Improvement is desired to simplify the assembly, lower cost, improve assemble-ability (especially during a blind assembly), improve reliability of retention after assembly, improve integrity and reliability of the electrical connection made in the multiple circuits during assembly, doing so while maintaining low cost of components and assembly, and while also providing a design that takes up as small of space as possible by the components/assembly.